Electrical energy utilities are frequently required by state or local regulations or by energy customers to verify the accuracy of electrical energy meters operating in the field. To satisfy these requirements, utilities typically incur the expense of initially testing the accuracy of each meter (or a statistically significant number of meters) upon receipt from a manufacturer. Once in service, utilities again incur the expense of testing the accuracy of each meter to verify its continued accuracy from the date of installation. Thus, utilities periodically send skilled meter testpersons to meter sites, particularly those of large energy customers, to perform in-service measurements of the accuracy of meters and perform calibration adjustments, if necessary. Examples of known meter testing devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,271,390 to Canu and 4,646,003 to Phillips et el. On occasion, however, meters may need to be removed from the field to be calibrated and this can result in significant additional expense to utilities. All of these expenses are ultimately reflected in higher energy rates for the consumer.
To provide energy at economical rates and maintain quality control over billing operations, utilities typically develop in-house computer databases covering the maintenance histories of all meters in service. Such databases can include information cataloged by meter serial number and/or manufacture or customer name, etc. These maintenance histories can then be used as a form of feedback to utilities and meter manufacturers to ensure accurate energy measurement. However, establishment and maintenance of these databases requires additional computer hardware, software and database personnel which can be expensive.
Accordingly, to improve quality control and provide energy at the lowest possible rates, utilities have begun to demand that meter manufacturers not only provide meters with a high degree of accuracy, but also provide meters that can be easily tested and calibrated. Utilities have also begun to request additional information relative to the specific accuracy of each meter prior to shipment. Manufacturers presently provide this information in media such as printouts or floppy disks; however, this information often needs to be converted to a format which is compatible with the utilities' database and/or re-keyed into the database. This process can be time consuming and expensive.
Thus, notwithstanding these attempts to ensure meter accuracy and maintain accurate billing operations, there still exists a need to provide a more efficient and economical database of meter information and means of verifying meter accuracy.